Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin Scores $10.7M For 2011, An 8.1% Raise

Shareholders probably won’t begrudge him the increase in a year when the satellite radio company’s market value appreciated 13%. Karmazin’s package is pretty simple: $1.5M salary, $9.2M bonus, and $7,350 for other compensation. The Sirius XM proxy says that it awarded Karmazin his bonus to recognize, among other things, the growth in subscriptions, revenues, and cash flow — and the reduction in the company’s debt. The CEO’s pay amounted to 23% of the pie for the company’s six named executives, and is 1.5 times higher than the average for his colleagues — well below the level that would concern corporate governance activists. But the numbers are somewhat skewed because Karmazin wasn’t the company’s highest paid exec: CFO David Frear’s package came to $20.8M, up nearly 520%. That’s almost entirely due to $18.9M in option awards granted in July. Sirius XM will hold its annual meeting in New York on May 22.